The present invention relates generally to an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a printing medium and, more particularly, the invention pertains to an image forming apparatus which delivers each sheet of a printing medium to a location surrounded by an original scanning section, an image forming section and a sheet feeding section.
Conventionally, most of image forming apparatuses are provided with a sheet receiving section projecting outward from a side surface of a housing. This kind of image forming apparatus requires a relatively large space for installation since not only a space for the housing but also a space for the sheet receiving section are needed.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-206609 shows an image forming apparatus employing a front access type sheet receiving section which allows a user to remove sheets of a printing medium ejected to the sheet receiving section from a front side of the apparatus. This image forming apparatus includes an original scanning section, an image forming section and a sheet feeding section which are disposed in this order from top to bottom, in which the image forming apparatus is structured such that the image forming section has a small cross-sectional area when cut by a horizontal plane as compared to the original scanning section and the sheet feeding section. In this image forming apparatus, the front access type sheet receiving section is disposed so as to be surrounded by the original scanning section, the image forming section and the sheet feeding section. The sheet receiving section thus configured offers an advantage that the image forming apparatus can be installed in a small space.
The front access type sheet receiving section however has a problem that the sheets ejected to the sheet receiving section are difficult to see from a distance. For this reason, it is occasionally difficult for a user who has entered an image forming command from a place distant from the image forming apparatus to examine whether an image forming job has completed. Consequently, the sheets already delivered to the sheet receiving section would often be left uncollected.
On the other hand, it is difficult to provide a large number of sheet receiving trays in the sheet receiving section because the sheet receiving section is located in a limited space surrounded by the original scanning section, the image forming section and the sheet feeding section. To make efficient use of a small number of sheet receiving trays, it is not desirable that the sheets be left unremoved from the sheet receiving trays. Therefore, it is needed to enable the user to recognize that the printed sheets have been ejected to the sheet receiving section so that the user would collect the sheets as soon as possible upon completion of each image forming job.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an image forming apparatus employing a front access type sheet receiving section which allows a user to recognize completion of an image forming job from a distance.